Kevin Withnall

In Episode 2 of Treading Lightly, Kevin works with Chantal (because Jason has no voice this week due to illness) to discuss some feedback they have received about the first episode and to raise some new issues.

This week we talk about;

• More about the Toyota Prius (We know its getting old but its the most commented on item)
• Some solar power options and what they cost.
• A new solar manufacturing company Nano Solar, and why what they are doing is quite exciting.
• Solar hot water and why its better than electricity based hotwater. Natural Gas also gets a look in.
• Wind power (briefly)
• Green Power, how it works, where to get it, and some issues Kevin had getting it for the company where he works.
• Kevins new bicycle (If you saw Kevin, you would know why this is funny)
• The TV Series “It’s not easy being green” on BBC2 that we have heard is available on mininova. This series is well worth watching and if its ever available for sale, we would definitely buy a copy.

Over the next few episodes, we will be discussing….

• Water tanks (rain water)
• Grey Water
• Bores
• Hopefully less talk about the Prius
• the Clipsal Cent-a-meter and why its cool
• Clipsal CBUS (and why it can be, but isn’t always good for the enviroment)

 

Any questions you would like to have discussed or feedback on the show, you can email us here or call (02) 42270001 in Australia and +61 2 4227 0001 from everywhere else!

In Episode 1 of Treading Lightly, Kevin and Jason introduce themselves and discuss what got them interested in green issues. Treading Lightly is a discussion about how we interact with the worlds environment. This week we talk about;

• How disturbing articles in New Scientist magazine got Jason thinking about green issues.
• The good work Animals Asia is doing with their Moon Bear rescue, and Doctor Dog programs
• Believe it or not, George Bush creates the world’s largest ever marine sanctuary
• Kevin discusses his Toyota Prius Hybrid and whether or not he should buy the new hybrid Lexus.
• And we realize that Tim Flannery’s Book “The Weather Makers” while being an excellent book may not be good bed time reading!

Any questions you would like to have discussed or feedback on the show, you can email us here or call (02) 42270001 in Australia and +61 2 4227 0001 from everywhere else!

June 17th, 2006

Partially taken from (and well worth reading in full)
Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: The Flipping Point — How the evidence for anthropogenic global warming has converged to cause this environmental skeptic to make a cognitive flip

These books are considered by many to be the ‘ones to read’ if you want more indepth knowledge about enviromental impact and enviromental science.
In episode 001, we will discuss briefly some of these books and what impact they have had.

• Archaeologist Brian Fagan’s The Long Summer (Basic, 2004)
• Geographer Jared Diamond’s Collapse (Penguin Group, 2005)
• Journalist Elizabeth Kolbert’s Field Notes from a Catastrophe (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2006)
• Biologist Tim Flannery’s The Weather Makers (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2006)

Not listed on the sciam site, but well worth spending the time to listen to, is an audio book that really explins the science behind the issues. The Modern Scholar: Global Warming, Global Threat is a great thing to listen to in the car (hybrid, of course) going to/from work.